So, midterms this week. To be up front, I've only got like, one test, but I'll be putting extra hours in at the shop to try and knock out this project our teacher assigned us. That means there's probably not going to be a thread next week, but we'll see.

In other news, RIP SWQ Flashdrive. It made it so far, I'm really kinda sad- just a couple more weeks and we'd have been done. I plan to give it a good viking funeral- it fought on for a long time.

++"So what's going on?" You ask for what seems like the fourth time as you're hustled into a squadron briefing room with Slider and the girls by Brigitte.

"I told you before, baron, I don't know." Brigitte says, her accent falling away at the end of her sentence. Your eyes narrow as she continues. "But it's bad. Whatever it is, it's bad. This came down from as high up as it gets."

"Is it mars?" You ask, looking over at Slider.

She shakes her head. "I don't think so. the UN would have already issued warnings. This is something else."

"I don't know. Maybe. Just wait for-" Her head snaps around, hand reaching for the pistol on her hip as the door to the room slams open and a plainclothes trooper steps through, followed by Admiral Nixon and one of his staff officers and another man, one dressed in a soviet colonel's uniform. Both the girls grab onto you as soon as he walks through the door, though he's alone and, even after looking at them, is either too distracted to care about them or doesn't recognize them.

Brigitte arrests the move and snaps to attention, while you mirror it by long reflex- Nixon waves a tired hand. "Sit down, kids." He says, sounding harried, and looks at Brigitte. "How long till Wells is on the ground?"

"She's already on post, sir." Brigitte says- her clear English confusing Nixon for a second. "My girls will meet her and bring her here, no problem."

"Good." He nods. "Good, good. Bishop, this is Colonel Andrei Glovenko, Soviet air force. He's one of the officers we've been working with as part of the peace process. Andy, this is Frank Bishop."

The colonel nods at you, recognizing the name, though he doesn't say anything.

Nixon looks at you and shakes his head, running a hand back through his close-cropped grey hair. "This is a bad one, son. Real bad."

"Give it a minute, Lieutenant commander." He says. "Wait for Wells, I don't want to have to say this all twice."

You nod, hugging both Stasya and Lilya a little closer to you- LIlya is shuddering slightly and Stasya feels about as tense as a coiled spring- It's probably GLovenko's uniform, you decide. You stay like that for a second before the door opens again and Merlin and Sakamoto walk in, their flight gear still on.

Nixon nods as soon as they step in the room. "Good. Brigitte, dog that hatch and stand in front of it."

He takes a second to look at Sakamoto and your girls, then shakes his head. "This is all classified beyond black, People. I hear you even thought of breathing a word of it to anyone outside this room, your life turns into a hell of supermax cells and courtrooms, clear?"

"Approximately an hour ago, I received a priority call from Comrade Premier Putin." He says, his English only lightly accented- less so than Katya's, even. "His troops have secured the Kremlin and the rest of the government buildings in Moscow, and have effectively gained control of the nation from the Politboro and Comrade Stalin." He pauses.

"Stalin was killed in the fighting at the palace of the soviets." He says, matter-of-factually. "This triggered deadman's hand systems unknown to us- Stalin's Hammer and Stalin's Shield. Stalin's Hammer is a computer command designed to lock down the megalith installation and launch Megalith's weapons at targets around the globe. Stalin's Shield is an airborne weapons platform designed to prevent any attempt to stop this."

"He's not telling the whole story, kids." Nixon says- as soon as he starts talking, the Soviet Colonel steps away from the podium. "The whole system was designed independent of the UNEDF. There's no way to stop it, and it only needs a handful of loyalists to enact. Megalith isn't responding to shutdown signals from Geneva."

"Do we have a target list?" You ask.

"Not yet, but there's more than enough warheads in Megalith to wipe us all out. Some of them were designed to do just that- sow enough radiation in the atmosphere that earth would be uninhabitable to everything but the cockroaches." He says.

"So hit it with arkbird?" You say. He shakes his head.

"Not an option. The Shield was designed to shut down any attempt at attacking Megalith. We don't know a lot about it, but it was designed to fly, and probably fight, forever."

Glovenko nods. "We're attempting to track down information about the Shield, but most data on it seems to have been lost when directorate sixty wiped out their computerized records. Paper records may still exist, but it will take time to find them. We have already lost several squadrons of our best remaining pilots and witches attempting to breech the airspace."

"Son," Nixon says, looking back at you. "I don't want to ask you this, I know you have your kids and everything now, but we need you to go in and shut that flying fortress down so we can get people in to stop Megalith- or bomb it into rubble."

[] So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation? Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet. [] That sounds like a suicide mission, sir, there's no way I'm doing that blind and without support.

>>42894131>[x] So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation? Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet.We're fucked either way. Let's just hope that there's enough of us left to fill an urn.

>>42894131>[X] So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation? Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet.

>>42894104>This triggered deadman's hand systems unknown to usDidn't Stalin love western movies? He must of loved Dr. Strangelove...>>42894131>[x] So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation? Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet. Damned if you do, damned if you don't but we NEED support to do it.

Any chance we can deorbit satellites to give targets to the shield longshot I know ? Perhaps fire all the ballistic missiles we can at it too? Launch everything? If we can overwhelm the shield with targets it'll be far easier to kill it, i.e. The Dance of the Vampires.

>>42894131[x] So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation? Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet.

>>42894131>[] So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation? Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet.

>>42894131>"Not an option. The Shield was designed to shut down any attempt at attacking Megalith. We don't know a lot about it, but it was designed to fly, and probably fight, forever."I suppose that includes boots on the ground knocking out Megalith? Don't suppose Chandelier or Stonehenge can target it either.

[x] So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation? Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet.

"So you want me to go in blind against something apparently designed to kill anything that gets close to Megalith and shoot it down so we can go blow up or disable the UNEDF's biggest weapons installation?" You ask, leaning back in your chair and crossing your arms.

Nixon nods. "Listen, son-"

"Sounds like my kinda job, where's our jet." You finish with a grin.

He shakes his head. "Listen, son," He repeats, "I wouldn't be asking you if we thought we had another option with the same chance of working. Right now, we don't. And we're pulling every string we've got to give you every chance we can-"

"What kind of support are we getting?" Merlin asks.

"We've got one set of prototype strikers ready to go based on your work, Lieutenant." He says. "Your latest work, I mean."

"That's it's name?" Nixon asks, then nods. "But, yes. that. That's it, just one set. Your wyvern isn't up for this one, but the air force has a plane they're letting us borrow from Boeing's Black Gnomes. Mission planning is on you, the soviet air force will be providing regional BARCAP and letting us fly tankers and support aircraft into their airspace."

"The wyvern's down?" You ask. "Sir, if this is this urgent, we probably don't have time to familiarize with a new airframe-"

He shakes his head. "Don't worry about that part, son, they say you'll be fine. It was designed for teams like yours from the word go. It's in the hangar out there."

"So how's it loaded?" You ask.

"Weapons are already fitted- trust me son, this some real star-wars type stuff. Support assets are already rolling." He says, looking at his watch.

"Who's on his wing?" Slider asks.

"I think that's up to him, isn't it?" Nixon responds. "We've only got one Valkyrie, Bishop, this is a two-element flight. The soviets are willing to put up two of their best as well, but that's all we can risk in the battlespace until the shield is gone."

>>42895019>Black GnomesI KNOW WHERE YOUNG WENT!> Which witch do you bring with you?Konnie, because:>A)Like fuck am I gonna risk any of our wifes getting killed on such a high risk mission. >B)Konnie is a good enough witch to keep up with us during combat.>C)She has the magic reserves and reflexes to keep herself safe while we do crazy shit.

>>42895019>We've only got one Valkyrie, Bishop, this is a two-element flight. The soviets are willing to put up two of their best as well, but that's all we can risk in the battlespace until the shield is gone."

INB4 its Stalinka

Also is anyone else sad we didn't fight Robo-Stalin and his army bunker filled with brain dead witches?

"I want Wendy in that striker." You say, causing Slider to look over at you sharply. Nixon nods and gestures to one of his guard staff, who takes off at a sprint for the nearest phone- he'll call it in and get Wendy up here.

You shrug. "She's got the quickest and most mild striker sickness of all of you, and she stuck with me over Poland that time." You say.

Slider doesn't look sold, but nods. "Fine. But if she lets something happen to you..."

You scoff. "Yeah, like that's a thing that's ever going to happen."

"What about us, Papa?" Stasya asks. "We could help."

You shake your head. "It doesn't sound like it this time Stasya. I don't want you to get hurt, ok?"

She frowns. "But what if you get hurt?"

You shake your head. "Won't happen." You say, flatly. "But I am going to need you and Lilya to watch Rachel for me, ok? Stay here with her and keep her company till I get back."

Stasya frowns even more deeply, then nods. "Ok papa. If you say so." She doesn't sound too convinced.

"We'll try and give you support- space command has agreed to deorbit junk satellites to give the shield something to shoot at, but we don't know if it'll do any good. We're not sure what kind of control system it's got." Nixon says. "Life support will meet you in the hangar, Brigitte will drive you over."

>>42896159>space command has agreed to deorbit junk satellites to give the shield something to shoot at, but we don't know if it'll do any good. We're not sure what kind of control system it's got.Hope it helps a bit.

You pause at the door, looking at Slider, then Stasya and Lilya. The girls have already both claimed one of Slider's hands, and all three of them are looking at you- watching you leave. You smile. "I love all of you. I'll be back before you know it, ok?" The girls both nod- Slider looks a bit choked up. First you've ever seen her like that.

"Baron." Brigitte prompts, and you follow her out of the door.

There's an open topped Humvee waiting for you outside, Brigitte hops into the driver's side, having lost her strikers- but not her rifle- somewhere along the way. "You going to be ok, Baron?" She asks.

"Sure." You say, nodding. "I've fought worse."

"It doesn't sound like it." She responds, and you drive the rest of the way in silence.

The hangar is heavily guarded, but the troops outside let the three of you in without a second glance, recognizing Brigitte- and probably you, you realize. Inside is the biggest plane you've seen in a while, one that looks like a medium bomber. It squats on main gear with ten wheels- a paired nosewheel emerges from a boom jutting like a lower jaw out from under the cockpit, while the fuselage gears each have four wheels. A pair of massive, massive turbofans sit widely spaced underneath an almost flat V-tail and broad, polyhedral wings. Your keen eyes make out the lines of internal weapons bays, but there's no external ordinance- everything is clean. A gun port sits to the side of, and just below, the canopy- which to your eyes looks a bit short for a two-place fighter.

"I don't know what it's called." Brigitte responds, tossing a black duffel bag at you. "There's your flight gear, and they said there was a letter for you from the guys that built it. Wells, yours is over there-" She points at a 'changing booth'- a few pieces of plywood nailed together to offer some kind of privacy. "Baron, you can change in the one next to her."

The flight suit is different- it feels heavier, with tubes of somekind running inside the fabric. The inner surface feels like a fleece, the outside, you're not sure. Fire retardant, you hope. There's armor plates in key locations, and a heavy neck gorget that the helmet looks like it locks into. You note the helmet's got VDNI uplink jacks, same as yours.

It takes you a minute to change- you step out to see Merlin wrapped in a poncho liner. "Hers doesn't cover as much skin as it ought to." Brigitte explains.

Merlin, blushing furiously, nods. "W-want me to get started on preflights?" She asks. "My feet are getting cold..."

[] Go for it. [] I don't know, Merlin, maybe you should help with the walkaround inspection first.

>>42896994>[] I don't know, Merlin, maybe you should help with the walkaround inspection first.Also, Frank kinda get a lesser deal compared to Mobius one. Mobius One get a squadron, Frank only get three witches.I know situation demanded this, but still...

You nod. "Yeah, go for it. I'll do a walkaround inspection and be up in a few."

Merlin nods and makes for the stairwell- you look over, purely by chance, in time to see her hand the poncho liner back to Brigitte before dropping out of sight behind the canopy somewhere.

Brigitte was right- there's no way she should be showing off that much skin. At least all the sword training is doing her figure good, though.

You don't see anything out of the ordinary as you do your walkaround, though you'd be hard pressed to tell if something wasn't glaringly obvious. For a second you wish you had the wyvern- you're a lot more familiar with it, and you'd be able to tell. You do pause for a second on the aft end of the jet, looking up at the massive, massive exhausts of the jets, and their thrust vectoring equipment.

"You good, baron?" Brigitte asks as you finish the inspection, noting the guns on the aircraft are a paired set. You nod.

"Everything looks like it should, I guess." You say.

She nods. "Bon. Good. You want to climb on up here? I'll help you strap in."

The front office sits underneath a bubble canopy all it's own- you look around for Merlin for a second before Brigitte realizes what you're searching for and points to a flush hatch located behind the canopy. "She's in there." She says. "Armored capsule, she's probably still getting situated. It's got the best connection a witch could want, but it's not like wearing strikers."

"Uh huh." You say, raising an eyebrow. "Something I should know about?"

"Ask when you get back." She says, looking over her shoulder at the sound of rotor blades. "That's going to be Wendy. Get in, she'll have her own help."

You nod, dropping down into the relatively featureless cockpit. there's some basic flight controls, but it's very clear the fighter was designed to use VDNI almost exclusively.

Brigitte helps you get all the harness straps in place and tightened down, waiting for your thumbs up before leaning back and looking at you. "You're either one of the bravest people I've met or a damnfool." She says, after a second. "You know what's at stake here, right?"

"The world, I'm sure." You answer, sounding kind of bored- you have to work at it to be this nonchalant though.

She smiles, just slightly, and gives a very light, very short laugh. "Ah, baron. I should have tried harder with you. You do a girl good." She leans in and gives you a very intense, if short, kiss. "What could have been...." She whispers smokily before withdrawing, the smile dropping off her face. "Good to go?"

You nod with a thumbs up and hit the VDNI switch as she steps off the ladder and away from the canopy as it drops.

"Frank?" Merlin asks, her voice seeming to pop into being in your mind.

"Mhmm. It's- ahh. It's different in here." She says. "The VDNI is much more advanced. I haven't got everything warmed up yet, though, it'll be a few minutes. There's no preflight checks for you though, just check the flaps and stabs and that's it. I can't see outside yet."

You do so, checking flaps on both sides- good, and the stabilizers on both sides- also good. The big fighter beneath you seems to growl with potential energy as it's systems warm up.

"Ok, that's all the low end things." Merlin says, as you report flaps and stabs are good. "I'm going to start up the avionics suite and weapons and nav computers. Standby..."

The world flares around you as the fighter disappears, the sensors embedded in it's surfaces suddenly being able to deliver their input via the avionics suite into your brain through the VDNI jacks. A warming rumble in your chest mirrors the turbine's start up as cold systems are brought to life from the APU cart outside. You can see Wendy being helped into the Valkyrie, looking nervously over at your fighter for a second as it's metal shell closes around her.

"R-Radio check?" She asks, a second later.

"Got you, Wendy." You tell her, wishing you could give her a thumbs up or something- you can't, but you have faith in her.

"I asked for you by name." You confirm. "We're the only ones who can do this. You ready?"

She pauses for a second, before her 'Valkyrie' starts rolling, looking like a miniature fighter all on it's own as it taxis. Wendy must be laying down inside it, you realize. That's gotta be a bit unnerving for someone used to rolling upright on a taxi.

>>42898014>The front office sits underneath a bubble canopy all it's own- you look around for Merlin for a second before Brigitte realizes what you're searching for and points to a flush hatch located behind the canopy. "She's in there." She says. "Armored capsule, she's probably still getting situated. It's got the best connection a witch could want, but it's not like wearing strikers."

Ok, so, for those of you who don't keep track on the twitter, this week is midterms. I plan to be spending a lot of extra time in the labs working on our projects, so that means I won't have as much time to set up the thread. It means almost none, really. We'll still shoot for sunday, of course, but don't count on a run.

Other than that, I can't see us having many more than 3-4 threads to go, counting the 'post-game' thread where we kinda get to see everyone after the whole thing's over. You'll know when it's the last thread, but... Well. Before christmas, it looks like. Maybe before Thanksgiving. Been a hell of a run, huh? haha. Anyway, we're not there yet though! no time for rain.

But that's it for the night, I hope you guys enjoyed the run. Till next time gents, cheers!

Whatever happens now, it doesn't matter. It was good -- damn good. Thanks Ghost, for giving us something amazing.

But damnit, we are not ending this on a bittersweet note. Hear this Anons, we're bringing everyone home alive. Frank, Merlin, Wendy. Ice, Slider, Katnyan, the Sharktwins, Mav, Young, Goose... everyone. We're bringing them home alive.

>>42898048>"The world, I'm sure." You answer, sounding kind of bored- you have to work at it to be this nonchalant though. That's fucking Bond level shit right there.>>42898082>"We got a callsign for this one?" You ask the tower, surprised when Nixon comes back. >"You sure do, son." He says. "Eagle. Good luck, switch to AWACS control when you're airborne." This is really it, damn.>>42898136Good run as always Ghost! Good luck on the midterms.>Before christmas, it looks like.Really tempting faith there.

>>42898455>The idea still sounds great nevertheless.Yeah, plot wise Merlin would be praised/despised by the hardline Matrons for her advancement of non-striker tech and strikers, Tabane would have a reason for being batshit insane(rabbit familiar was killed), Laura would be Hessler's "daughter", and Cahr wouldn't ahve be some woobie that everyone loves.

>>42898832Thanks so much for writing this quest, it's literally something great to have every week/month for the past few years. I'll miss it and hope to see your next work soon, even if your new career butcher your update speed to once every month or something.